war story
Schulenberg, Germany - Nov 28, 2022
A woman with a big heart
A woman with a big heart
aiIn March 2022, my 18-year-old son had a second family.
aiFrom the first days of the war, my husband's friend from the city of Kropyvnytskyi started inviting him and our family to his home. We hesitated for a long time, but at the beginning of March we decided to go to Kropyvnytskyi. Neither the end nor the edge of the convoy of cars from Kharkiv could be seen.
aiThe distance from Kharkiv to Kropyvnytskyi is about 400 kilometers, but it took us almost 15 hours to get there. It was scary to move in a convoy to the sounds of air raids at a speed of 10-20 kilometers per hour, but it was even scarier to stay in Kharkiv under fire.
aiKropyvnytskyi welcomed us warmly and calmly. We entered the house of people whom I saw for the first time and fell into their arms. A table with food and a warm bed awaited us.
aiMy husband returned to Kharkiv the next day, he had business there. My children and I stayed for a few days. Natalya and Oleksandr invited me and my boys to stay with them "as long as necessary". I thought about everything for several days. After much thought, a decision was made: I am going to the Czech Republic with my younger son.
She has three sons of her own, but she also calls my son her son now...
aiMy eldest son could not go with us - he turned 18 in January 2022. I didn't know how to deal with it. But Natalya and Oleksandr invited him to live in their house, in their family. So it was done. Natalya has three sons of her own, but she also calls my son her son now...
aiMy youngest son and I ended up in the Czech Republic, where I went to work in a factory. My eldest son fell in love with the city of Kropyvnytskyi, where he found a new family, new friends and a new home, he continued his studies at the institute online.
aiI saw my eldest son six months later, in September2022, when I was able to come from the Czech Republic to Kropyvnytskyi. I saw that he was warm and comfortable in this family, in this city.
aiMany people from Donbas, Kharkiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia were forced to move to the center of Ukraine, to the city of Kropyvnytskyi. Residents of the city help the displaced people in everything they can. We, the people of Kharkiv, are sincerely grateful to them for this.
aiBut my biggest thanks goes to Natalia, a Ukrainian woman with a big heart! When I asked her for permission to write a post of gratitude about her here at Brave Action she said: "And how else could it be? Every Ukrainian should help each other in our common trouble."
aiMy son is now at home with his father in Kharkiv. But he knows that at any moment he can return to this welcoming home, to real people with a big heart.
